BAGHDAD—A car bomb and a smaller explosive device detonated on Tuesday morning close to a parking area for municipal employees in a town outside Baghdad, leaving 36 dead and another 54 wounded, according to police and hospital sources.

The blasts occurred as people reported to work at the municipal building in Taji, 12 miles north of the capital city.

At least three more people were killed and 13 wounded by a Katyusha rocket fired late Monday into Baghdad’s Green Zone enclave, home to the Iraqi government and foreign embassies.  The rocket hit trailers for construction workers from the Rasheed hotel, a landmark building in the capital that is being renovated.

The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks across Iraq, many of them on government employees, that serve as a reminder that the war-torn country is still far from stable and continues to face a tenacious insurgency even as US security forces prepare to complete their withdrawal at year’s end.

In Taji police reported, the two explosions occurred within minutes during rush hour, and ambulances were not able to quickly evacuate the injured. “Thanks to God, firstly I survived the twin explosion,” said a survivor, factory worker Rasim Ubaidi. “I was trying to get there [to the municipal building] because I should renew my ration card coupon.

“Flesh of people flew in the sky like birds. I can’t believe what I saw.” 

(Los Angeles Times)